Manchester United’s Champions League exit means they are suffering their worst trophy drought in 40 years; United’s last piece of silverware was the Europa League in 2017 under Jose Mourinho; a win rate of 45 per cent in all competitions this season is their lowest since the 1989-90 campaign
Manchester United are suffering their worst trophy drought in 40 years after being knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid.
Defeat in Europe means the earliest United can achieve silverware is by winning next season’s League Cup final, which is due to take place on February 26, 2023.
With 2017 the last time United won a major trophy, they are now on their longest drought in four decades. After victory in the 1977 FA Cup, they had to wait until 1983 for their next triumph when they won the competition again.
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United’s win rate of 45 per cent in all competitions this season is their lowest since 1989-90.
Since former manager Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, United have lifted just three pieces of silverware. The FA Cup under Louis van Gaal in 2016, and the League Cup and Europa League under Jose Mourinho the following year.
After the high-profile arrivals of Cristiano Ronaldo, Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho last summer, United were expected to mount a serious challenge for trophies this season, but they quickly fell behind rivals Manchester City and Liverpool in the Premier League and now face an uphill struggle to finish in the top four.
In a campaign that has seen former player Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lose his job as manager and Ralf Rangnick become interim boss, United crashed out of both domestic cup competitions with home losses to West Ham in September and Middlesbrough last month.
Their remaining hope was the Champions League, but defeat by Atletico Madrid in the last 16 sees their trophy drought extend into a sixth consecutive season.
May 24, 2017. The last time Manchester United won a major trophy.
April 22, 2013. The last time Manchester United won the Premier League.
Under Sir Alex Ferguson, United never went more than three seasons without winning the Premier League title. For those who grew up knowing nothing else but endless success under the Scot, it is therefore understandable to view the current run of eight years following his retirement as a catastrophe.
But for a club and institution the size of United, that’s exactly what it is. Since his departure, United have lifted just three major trophies in nine seasons.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was tasked with restoring United to former glories when he replaced Jose Mourinho in 2018, but a mammoth penalty shootout loss to Villarreal in last season’s Europa League final was the closest he came before eventually being sacked later that year.
Attention then turned to interim boss Ralf Rangnick, but a shock FA Cup defeat by Middlesbrough ended United’s best chance of winning silverware in what has been – to put it mildly – a disastrous 2021/22 campaign.
It is now half a decade since United last won a major trophy – their longest drought in 40 years.
Liverpool waited 30 years for a top-flight title. It will already be 10 if United fall short in the league next season and although it might be a stretch to suggest they are on the same path, history has a strange way of repeating itself.
On current evidence, United’s barren streak looks set to continue for a while yet.
